Tech

A 3D Printer for the Rest of Us: New Matter Builds $199 Device

MakerBot arguably put 3D printing on the map, but it could be New Matter that ultimately puts it average people’s hands.

Backed by Idealab, the startup launched a Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign on Wednesday and hopes to deliver an end-to-end 3D printing solution for less than $200 by early 2015. Aside from DIY 3D printer kits, it’s an unheard of price point for 3D printing technology and it comes with quite a pedigree.

New Matter is working with and backed by Frog Design, the legendary design firm that has worked with everyone from Apple and Microsoft to GE and Sony, and the result is MOD-t, an austere and attractive 16-inch by 12-inch by 15-inch tall 3D printer encased in a translucent, removable cover. The company is also helping New Matter build a suite of companion apps.

“When we started working on this project, we gave ourselves this provocation: What if you could send a 3D print to someone like you send them a text message?” says Frog Designer Christin Todorovich in the launch video.

Stephen Schell, who cofounded New Matter along with Idea Labs CEO Bill Gross, has been working in the 3D printing space for a decade, and originally started by building sub $2,000 3D printers for small businesses. Now, with this new venture, the New Matter president and CTO is targeting consumers, and Schell believes he knows the ingredients necessary for consumer 3D printing success.

The cost has to be something consumers can bear. “If you charge $500-to-several thousand dollars, you only get people who are really enthusiastic and passionate about 3D printing.”

The software must be simple and easy to use. “Consumers don’t want to understand and set temperature set points on an extruder.”

Offer access to great 3D designs.

With Frog Design’s help, they’ve created an online store and application that allows consumers to download and share 3D creations, and because New Matter’s MOD-t 3D Printer is Wi-Fi enabled, the 3D designs can go straight from the site or app to the printer.

The Hardware

The MOD-t is a good-looking device, a rarity for a 3D printer, but at a $149 introductory price (it will eventually be $199 and include a spool of print material), it’s not really designed to compete with, for instance, MarkerBot's $2,000 Replicator 2. Speed wise, Schell estimates the MOD-t, which prints at 80mm per seconds, is in the middle of the pack. Print times can take anywhere from a half an hour to six hours depending on object size (up to 150 mm x 100 mm x 125 mm) Beyond that, though, MOD-t stacks up fairly well against the competition. Like MakerBot’s $1,375 Replicator Mini and 3D System’s Cube, New Matter’s MOD-t prints from a spool of biodegradable PLA, with a minimum layer height of 200 microns. This is essentially a measure of print resolution: the higher the number here, the greater the smoothness of printed objects.

In addition to software and overall design, the MOD-t may stand apart in another way: its print plate. According to Schell, the MOD-t’s build plate, which moves while the print head only moves up and down, uses a patent-pending design. Its rack and pinion mechanism lowers both the number of components and overall cost of the printer.

Why would I?

Even with a sexy Frog design and “magical” price point, why would consumers want a 3D printer? Schell says he’d tell consumers that 3D printers let you “customize the world around you.” He contends that when we shop for decorations or even toys for our children, we’re often constrained by what’s on the shelf. 3D printers let you design and print out your ideas.

Of course, most consumers are not designers so they’ll still rely on the template designs offered on New Matter’s apps and web site. According to the campaign video, though, they’ll be able to easily modify the designs. It shows people manipulating the virtual 3D models on their iPad via touch, including previewing how different color PLA might look, and then sharing the prints via the app so that someone else with a New Matter MOD-t can print out the same 3D object.

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